Fazıl Bey’in Türk Kahvesi

Though Fazıl Bey’in Türk Kahvesi has more than a few shops around Istanbul, my favorite is the one tucked in between countless other coffee shops in the middle of the Kadıköy Market. Its black marble Parisian circle tables, narrow spaces where you join other tables’ conversations involuntarily, and the intense smell of freshly ground and roasted coffee make it a quaint and authentic place.
Look on the passers-by, get a double roasted turkish coffee and smoke your cigarette. Listen to other tables. Check out the old coffee signs, coffee machines and locals who come to buy packs of fresh coffee. Best enjoyed alone for an anthropological observation hour. Otherwise you can be on the other end of the lens and enjoy company.

Context: Old teyzes are like football fanatics when it comes to their favorite Turkish coffee brand. Fazıl Bey’s Turkish Coffee is a slightly more niche brand serving as alternative to the household staple Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi’s Coffee.

What to order: Turkish coffee, no sugar. This comes with a shot glass of water and a single Turkish delight on a toothpick to add some chewy sweetness to the side. Like a biscoff cookie next to an espresso.
You can also buy freshly ground coffee. The coffee roaster and grinder is right in the shop and you can occasionally catch them make a new batch.

What to know: Only cash.
There is also another, bigger shop a couple streets away, but that one lacks the calm and quaintness of this one.